Disclaimer: I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog and their creators.

Chapter 8: Falling for him

After Ellie leaves Joel's house, she goes back to her home. When she arrives she goes directly to her room and lays down on her bed. After getting a few hours of sleep, she wakes up and can't stop thinking about her day with Joel yesterday. So she moves to her drawer and grabs her diary and starts to write on it.

Dear diary, yesterday was the best day of my life. I go to Joel's house- No is better if I do not mention his name just in case. So Ellie erases his name from the page and continues. I went to his house and after that, we went to my favorite place on the lake. It was so fun, and we caught a few fish. We make a bet and I win of course so he has to clean and cook the fish. I think he was going to do it anyway. Sometimes he tries to hide his feelings, but I know that he likes me… well, I am not sure in what way, but I will find out someday. He laughs a little at my puns jokes and that it was a surprise because he sometimes looks so sad. I wish to know what happened to him like that, but I'm glad that we are now good friends and that we're having some much fun together… Ellie stops for a moment. Her heart starts to beat faster now and she starts to feel some strange things on her stomach.

Is that what we're? Friends? He never said the words or tried to deny it, but I know we're that now. I slept in his house last night and tried to go to his room. I don't know why I try to do that or why I am starting to get a strange feeling every time I get close to him? So what does that mean? Yeah, we're having some much fun now and I want that to continue. He is maybe a little older than me… well, a lot but I don't mind. He is a handsome man and kind when he wants to be. I like his bear and his eyes, even when they look so sad sometimes. I feel so happy when I pass time with him, and I never felt like that before. It is just like we were meant to be... I don't know what exactly happened to me but I do not want that feeling growing inside of me to go away, it feels so good.

Anyway, summer is almost over, so I hope that all this doesn't end with it. Yeah, he lives just a

A half-hour from my house and I can still go there after school and or weekends.

But it is not going to be the same. My aunt is coming back today so I don't know if it is better to not go there for a few days. Oh my God, I'm going to die if I don't see him in a few days. I hope that he is going to miss me too. Ellie continues writing for half an hour until she hears the front door gets opened. She stopped her writing and hid the diary under her mattress and went out of her room to welcome her aunt.

( One week later )

It has been a week since Ellie slept in Joel's house. Joel was worried that something might happen to her because she never showed up later that day or the next few ones. Joel didn't have any way to contact her and he didn't want to go asking people about her or where she lives. He doesn't want people to start asking why he is looking for her. So he decided to leave it like that for now. So after a week, Joel drove to town to buy a phone, so that way he can talk with the hardware store man and offer his service as a handyman.

Of course, he goes to the electronic store first to get the phone. "No, I already told you that I need a landline phone. I don't like cell phones, so stop offering me one," said Joel with an angry tone.

The man put the one he had in hand on top of the counter. "Sorry sir, but that is all I have here. If you want a landline phone you need to call a phone company for that," The young man looked to the side, trying to avoid Joel glare. " Anyway, why want to use those? Everyone uses cell phones these days, it is more practical and you can do more things with them" said the man while turning around and starting to check a few things on the wall racks.

Joel rolled his eyes, he was starting to get irritated by the man. But as no one is going to sell him one, he didn't have any choice but buy one for now. "Okay fine I will buy a prepaid one. The ones that don't need a phone company or anything like that."

The man turned around and looked at him. "What, are you in some kind of trouble?"

Joel glared at the man, not liking his attitude. "No… so you can stop right there. Just give me the damn phone and make it a simple one, I don't want it to be too complicated, okay?"

The young man looked at Joel a little scared. "Su… Sure, I have a few simple ones that you can choose from," the man gets down and opens the counter lower part and starts checking the phone he has there. After a few minutes, he gets up and puts a few cell phones on the top of the counter. "I have those in different colors and models, you can choose whatever you like."

"Just give me the black one," says Joel after looking at all the phones he put there. He just wants to finish with this guy as soon as possible.

After Joel finishes with the phone, he goes out of the store and drives to the hardware store that was a few streets from there. So soon he parks his truck on the front, he gets out and walks inside. He picked up a few things he needed, then walked to the counter and started to talk with the owner. He asks him if he can let his information with him, in case someone asks.

"Oh, that is good sir. I'm glad that you decided to offer you services," said the man while he started to scan the items.

"Yeah, I used a lot of my saved money to fix the house, so I will need to do something to add some more to my account."

"Okay, I can tell people about your work, but you need to bring some pictures of your work, so people know what you can do. Do you have a card with your name and phone number? Also, do you have a license for that kind of work?"

"No I don't have any card, but I can give you my phone number," Joel took out his new phone and checked the number. Soon he got it, he asked the owner for a piece of paper and wrote his phone number on it. "Here, this is my phone number, so if you know someone that needs some repair you can tell them to call me. Also, I do have a license, but I think it expired."

The man grabs the paper and looks at the number. "No problem, I'm sure, that people here don't mind if it is just some repair. I know a few people that need some fixing on their house. So you will get some calls soon."

"Thanks, I really appreciated that," after that Joel grabbed his purchase and get out of the store. Joel has to do a few more things so after he finishes with his errant on the town, he drives back home.

When Joel got back home, he saw Ellie sitting on his porch stair. Joel was a little surprised to see her there since it was more than a week since the last time she was at his house. Soon he parked his truck in front of the house, he saw a smile on her face. She was wearing her red t-shirt with a yellow sun design with palms on the front and short blue jeans. She was wearing a baseball cap and her ponytails got out of the back of her cap. Soon he started to get out of his truck Ellie stood up and started to walk toward him.

"Hey!... I thought you're out of town. I have been waiting for you for two hours," said Ellie soon she gets closer to him.

"I have to do a few things in town, and I wasn't expecting any visitors," replied Joel while he grabbed one of the bags. "Are you okay? I was worried when I woke up and you were not there. I don't know if something happens to you. Said Joel, before he grabs the other bag.

Ellie put her hand on her back and looked down. "Yeah, I'm so sorry about that, but I need to go back home before my aunt comes back. I received a text message from my aunt so I have to get back home before she does." Ellie lied about the text message, but what more she can say? Yeah her aunt came that day but much later in the morning. But Ellie is not going to tell him the real reason for her departure.

Joel closes the truck door and looks at her. "Well, you should wake me up before you go, I could take you to your house. It wasn't right for you to walk all the way there after all that rain."

Ellie moves one leg marking a circle on the still wed ground. "Yeah, the ground was pretty messy, but I got back home without a problem," she said, up her head and looking at him. I wanted to come back during the week but my aunt needs to do a few things, so she needs me there. Anyway, do you need any help with that," she said pointing to the bags and using that to change the subject.

Joel starts to feel things while looking at her. Yeah, he was happy to see her after a week and in some way he misses too. He has been talking to her more, and even that he wasn't able to talk much about him, he really misses that. But he wasn't sure if that was a good thing to do for him. After a moment he passed one of the bags to Ellie. "Sure, you can take this one with the groceries."

Ellie grabbed the bag and started walking toward the house. Joel followed her and without notices, he started looking at her bare legs. C'mon man, what are you doing? You should not be looking at her like that, that is not right. He quickly turned his head and tried to look away from her. What is wrong with you? He doesn't know why he did that, he isn't attracted to her like that. Even if he starts to like her company that doesn't mean that he likes her like that, she is just a girl.

Joel was taken out of his thoughts when Ellie stopped in front of the door and turned her head and spoke. "Can you pass me the key?" she asked with a smile on her face. Joel just stayed staring at her, like he is in some kind of trance or something. "Joel?"

Joel shook his head a little. "Oh, the key… right," he introduces his free hand in his pocket and takes the house key out. He walked toward her and passed the key. "Here."

Ellie takes the key and opens the door. Then she walked inside with Joel behind her. "So... what have you been doing all this time without me?" she asked while walking to the front of the kitchen and put a bag on the top of the counter.

Joel dropped the other bags on top of the small dining table that was behind her. Then he walked toward the kitchen and got inside. Ellie sat down on one of the stubs putting her arm on top of the counter and looked at him.

"Well, I've been keeping myself busy, since you have not been here too boring me to death, with all you talk and questions," he says trying to hide his smile by taking out the thing he buys from the grocery store.

Ellie knew that he was just joking around. "Well, I don't believe you, I know that you miss me… so just said!"

After a few minutes of Ellie begging him to say it, he finally gave in. "Okay...okay… I did miss you… but just a little."

Ellie gave him a big smile. "Ahhhhhh! Do you really miss me? That is so cute!" She teases him, but she misses him more. And right now she just wants to walk over there and hug him.

Joel moves the fridge and opens the door. "I didn't miss you that much, do not flatter yourself like that," he said while putting some of the food inside the fridge.

Ellie put her hand on both sides of her face and leaned forward. "I know that you miss me a lot, who is not going to miss a girl like me?"

Joel turned his head and looked at her and smiled. Yeah, he is not going to admit that he really misses her a lot and that he was really worried about her. She may be a little annoying with her questions and pun jokes. But he really misses her company and doesn't see her face every day. He walked back to the counter and grabbed a few more things from the bag and moved to one of the cabinets. "So, did you get in any trouble with your aunt?" He asked out of nowhere.

Ellie watches him while he put the thing on the cabinet. "No, I told her that I spent the night at a friend's house during the rain. She didn't ask me anything else after that, so everything is good."

Joel turns after finishing and looks at her. "Well, that is good to know. I thought that you would get grounded or something like that."

"No, I didn't'. It's just that I can't come before because she wants to do a few things and wants me to help her, so it was a busy week for me too," She lied again… well, at least part of it. Yes, she did have to do a few things with her aunt, like go to the store, clean the house and do the laundry, but that does not take the whole week. She only was trying to avoid coming here after that night, but in the end, she really missed coming here. "Soooo... What are you doing today? I can help you if you want?"

"Well, I have nothing to do today, the house is almost fixed, and I just need to make small tables for my room and finish the back porch. But I will leave that for later. So for now, it is nothing for you to do around here."

Ellie's expression change. If she does not have anything to do here to help him, she needs to find another excuse to come to his house. "Ahh, c'mon is always something to do in a house. But if you don't have anything to do for now, maybe we can do something else. How about going fishing again? or I can show you a few nice spots in the forest that you will like… what you think?"

Joel grabs the empty paper bag and drops it inside the trash. "I don't know if it is a good idea to walk into the forest like that," he starts to walk out of the kitchen and get inside of the living room.

Ellie turned around on her seat and looked at him. "Ahhh c'mon summer is almost over let's do something fun today."

Joel started to pass one hand behind his neck. Yeah, he misses the girl but he did not want to get in the forest alone with her. "Well, If you want to do something fun today, you can help me wash my truck today, it got very dirty because of the rain."

Ellie starts thinking. Wash Joel truck is not the fun she was looking for, but at least she can spend some time with him. "Well, it is not like going fishing or walking in the forest, but I can help you with that," she studs up from the chair and walks toward Joel. "When will we start mister?"

( Half an hour later )

Joel told Ellie where to find the cleaning things to wash the truck. While she does that, Joel goes to his bedroom and changes his clothes for an old t-shirt and shorts.

After that, he goes outside and moves the truck to the back of the house, so the water doesn't make a mess on the front part. Soon Ellie walks out of the house with the cleaning things, she put the bucket on the ground close to the truck and goes to grab the water hose to put some water on the bucket. While Ellie does that Joel gets out of the truck and moves close to her.

"Thanks for helping me with this. I know this is not what you wanted to do."

"Don't worry about it. Sometimes I do the same with my aunt's car," She smiled at him and grabbed one of the sponges that were on the bucket and started to clean the front of the truck. Joel grabs the other one and moves to the back and starts cleaning that part.

After Ellie finishes with the front part, she starts to spray water onto the truck and starts to take the sob out. "Wow, your truck was very dirty… where did you go with it? To the mud racer?"

Joel laughed a little. "No, I didn't drive far from here, but it was very muddy after the rain and I didn't have time to wash it during the week," replied Joel while he was fishing with the back of the truck.

"Yeah, I can see that you don't have time to take care of your car," Soon Ellie finished taking out all the soap from the front part. She moved away from the truck and walked to the back where Joel was on the back of the pick-up truck washing that part. Ellie smiled at him then spattered water toward him with the hose.

Soon Joel felt the water, he tried to cover himself, but it was too late. "Hey! What the hell are you doing?"

"Cleaning all the dirty things," she answers laughing.

"Ohhh… you want to play like that... hum!" Joel takes the sponge and throws at Ellie and hits her on her chest.

"Hey that is not fair!... that has soap on it," Then she opened the water hose again and spatter more water toward Joel. Joel tried to cover his face again, but the water hit the rest of his body wetting his clothes.

Joel stands up and looks at himself, then back at Ellie. "Ohhh… now you're going to get it, you little-" Joel jumped out of the back of the truck and quickly grabbed the bucket with soap and water. Soon Ellie saw him and she ran to the other side of the truck while spattering more water toward him. Joel started to chase her to the other side and soon he got close to her, he threw the water on the bucket toward her, but she moved to the side and the water didn't hit her.

"Ha, you miss me!" Ellie said while trying to move to the other side of the truck, but the hose got to his limit and held her back. "Shit!" said Ellie soon she turned around and saw Joel looking at her with a grin on his face.

Joel started to walk toward her slowly while he pointed at her with his finger. "What are you going to do now? There is no way for you to run with the hose in your hands."

Ellie tried to move back, but she couldn't without letting go of the hose. "Dude, I don't need to run away, I still have the hose with me. So if you get closer to me you're going to pay the price," she replied while pointing the hose at him.

Joel gives her a smirk. "Well, that does not matter anymore, because You already get me all wet, but you're not. So now is my turn," Joel moves faster toward her, and besides that Ellie sprays more water at him he doesn't stop.

Soon Ellie saw him getting closer; she dropped the hose and started to run to the other side of the truck to tried to get away from him. But it was in vain because soon she got to the front part, the ground was so wet that she slipped and fell into the mud.

Joel moved quickly toward her. "Are you okay?" he said as soon as he got close to her.

"No, I'm not! Look at me? Now all my clothes are muddy," she said while trying to get up from the mud puddle.

Joel worries disappear when he saw that she was okay. "Well, that is something I can fix," Joel starts to move closer to her and try to grab her.

Ellie saw what his intention was, so she tries to get away from him. "Ohh… no, no… you don't," Ellie grab some mud and throw it at him. Then she tried to get up and run away. But Joel was faster and grabbed her by the waist. He picked her up and put her on his shoulder and carried her to the back to the truck.

Of course, she was fighting back and trying to get away from him. "No, please... I don't want to get wet," Ellie was saying while Joel carrying her where she left the hosepipe on the ground.

Soon he gets there he put Ellie on the back of his truck. Then he grabs the hose from the ground and starts to spray water all over her. "Don't worry, I will make sure that I clean all the mud out of you," He said with a smile on his face.

Ellie quickly covers her face and starts to protest. "Ahhhh… you are going to pay for this… I promise," Ellie was saying while Joel continues spraying water at her.

A few minutes later, Joel closes the water flow and moved away from her. "Now, we're even," he says looking at her wet body.

Ellie looked at him crossing her arm. She tried to hide her smile because she supposes to be mad at him for getting her all wet. But somehow, she found all that funny and exciting. Somehow she feels good. She makes Joel play with her a little and even that both of them got wet it feels fine to her. She really misses him last week. Ellie doesn't know why she tries to stay away from him when all she wants is to be closer. Ellie started to feel that thing on her stomach again. But this time she didn't want to stop. Ellie is not sure why she has this feeling about him, but something inside is telling her that she has fallen for Joel.